At a recent business breakfast, I was asked a question. One that I could not immediately answer that has prompted me to look into the topic further. I was asked whether we are insured when we are sat around a table at a meeting in a third party venue. I’ll explain; We all go to networking events, breakfast meetings, lunches and even exhibitions, but are we covered should someone trip over our laptop lead or if our banner stand should fall over and injure someone?
Now, if you were unfortunate enough to trip over a carpet tile or slip on a wet floor, this would be the ultimate responsibility of the venue and therefore their Public Liability insurance would cover this . . but. . . does your current shop/office/business insurance cover you for liabilities, incidents and accidents that occur away from your premises? I would suggest that it is worth a quick call to your broker who will be able to explain exactly where and when you are covered.
Some of the larger and more reputable insurance companies have this ‘work away’ liability as a standard cover within their policies however, if you have not initially stipulated this in your requirements when you originally took out the policy or you have since started attending events where you might take any equipment with you, to me, alarm bells would start ringing.
It is a frightening thought that you could turn up to a lunch or brekkie, sit down, enjoy a chat and some food, and somewhere during proceedings, someone could fall over your banner stand. At the time, you could all have a giggle at the individuals misfortune or show a little concern when they seem to have twinged their back but when a claim letter lands on your doorstep asking for the individual’s loss of earnings as they could not attend work for three months. . .
It is sad that we live in this blame culture but there are lawyers out there who tend to be ‘no win no fee’ and they are aggressively hunting for this business. Don’t let it happen to you, ask your expert!
If you'd like to see more about what Northcott Beaton can do, click here.
